Mike Schutte dies
2008-07-14 08:47
Johannesburg - Former South African heavyweight boxing champion Mike "The Tank" Schutte died at 04:00 on Monday morning, boxing publicist said Terry Pettifer said.
Schutte, who was trained by the late Alan Toweel, will mostly be remembered for his epic fights against fellow South Africans Jimmy Richards, Kallie Knoetze and Gerrie Coetzee. He was an underrated heavyweight who came within a whisker of fighting the inimitable Muhammad Ali during the mid-sixties.
He won the SA heavyweight title from Richards in 1975 and lost the title to Coetzee the following year. Schutte also fought and beat the likes of Cookie Wallace, Chuck Wepener, Joe "King" Roman, Obie English, Terry Hinke, Pat Duncan, Neil Malpass, Bill Carlson and Rudi Lubbers.
No funeral details have been released.
- SAPA